A recent bozTEAM blog pointed to signs of change in Germantown. There was more evidence this week in East Nashville!

Over the past year, selecting houses for our Thursday Preview Tour of Homes has been REALLY difficult. It starts Wednesday AM with bozTEAM agents sifting through hundreds of homes on an report, trying to find 10 - 20 great candidates for the tour.

Yesterday, armed with this week's theme of '1st Time Buyer Homes Under $175,000 in East Nashville & Inglewood, 2BR/2BA'; I was sure to be in for a LOT of narrowing to get the initial sort under 250 homes.

NOPE! The initial, wide range search only found 53 homes! I did a doubletake. WHA..WHATTTT?????

53 HOMES! What could be happening here?

Then I started the daunting process of softing through those 53 homes to find suitable candidates for the tour. These had to be the best and brightest! Our current buyer needs (oversimplified for the sake of blogging, of course):

BUYER 1: Move in ready. Kitchen is MOST important. Social space is also key. Likes hardwoods. Doesn't require fenced yard, but it is a plus. Large rooms or open spaces. Over 1000 s.f. would be GREAT - but it's also ok if it just 'feels' large.

BUYER 2: Investment property to be used as rental with 2 or more units. Large yard. Future possibility to combine into buyer's personal single family home. Prefers ranch style with finished basement and 'Needs TLC'. Expansion space possibilities would be great, too.

BUYER 3: Almost the same as BUYER 1 but under $120,000 and space for music room...

You get the idea...lots of different needs usually means LOTS of previewing. After sort #2, the preview list for Buyers 1 and 3 was down to 9 listings. THIS IS TOO EASY!

What does it all mean?

1. Inventory is down. Either things are selling OR things are renting and no longer listed. Either way, it's a good thing.
2. There is more competition out there. Many of the listings already had contingencies. Haven't seen as many of those lately. We'll still preview 'cause you never know what can happen with financing. Many of the buyers we're working with are happy to be the backup offer.
3. The preview day won't be nearly as frenzied as it usually is. We can get to those 9 listings in less than 2 hours and have great video clips and pics text messaged to those buyers to help them narrow down our Weekend Buyer Tours in no time.

So, look out East Nashville, the bozTEAM is coming! Are you ready?